Madeline Harper Guest is relatively new to the folk-rock scene, releasing her first album, The Ending Stays The Same, in May 2018. She sings about the everyday struggles of young adulthood, drawing a lot of inspiration from other young musicians, from Janice Ian to Taylor Swift.
Madeline's songs contain examples of:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A familial example in "Little Sister".Little sister, I know sometimes we fight, but I'll be here forever if you heed this advice...
- Beneath the Mask: "Cinderella Redux" offers a peek under it.
- Body Horror: Mentioned briefly in "Under The Willow Tree".But when her skin crumbles to dust, you know where I'll be...
- Break Up Song: Lots of these, from "The Ending Stays The Same" to "Mr. Bright Eyes" to "Under The Willow Tree" to, of course, "When We Break Up".
- Check and Mate: Madeline finds herself heading towards the receiving end of this in "Playing Chess", complete with Chess Motifs. She's in check, out of pawns, and having her queen chased away from where she needs to be, and to top it all off she had no idea the game was going on, and her opponent was cheating the whole time.
- The Chessmaster: Passive Aggressive Combat against one of these never ends well, according to "Playing Chess".
- Chess Motifs: "Playing Chess"
- Cool Big Sis: Madeline takes this role in "Little Sister", giving the titular younger sister some life advice.
- Fairytale Motifs: "Cinderella Redux" is a darker take on the Cinderella story pattern.
- Grief Song: "One More Time", "Not Ready", and, to some extent, "Under The Willow Tree" can all be interpreted this way.
- Heroic BSoD: "One More Time"
- I Am What I Am: "October Sky" involves Madeline finding an opportunity to say this.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Discussed in "One More Time". Madeline knows she has no hope left, the song's subject is either dead or has completely turned their back on her (it's not clear which), but she can't accept this and still hold on to her memories.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The threat of this is hanging over Madeline's head in "One More Time". If she comes to terms with her loss, she'll forget someone she really wants to remember.
- Liminal Time: "Not Ready" seems to take place during some sort of liminal moment.
- No Holds Barred Beat Down: Madeline delivers a verbal one in "Mr. Bright Eyes".
- Non-Appearing Title: "The Ending Stays The Same", "Cinderella Redux", and "Under The Willow Tree" (though "under the weeping willow tree" is a recurring line in the latter, and "The Ending Stays The Same" frequently says "the ending just/still stays the same").
- Obsession Song: "Under The Willow Tree" is a bit of an odd example. Madeline herself isn't the obsessed one, but she's watching an Obsession Song unfold from the sidelines, ready to welcome her lover back with open arms but doubtful she'll ever be able to.
- One-Man Song: "Mr. Bright Eyes"
- Passive Aggressive Combat: "Playing Chess". It isn't going well for Madeline.
- Pep-Talk Song: "Little Sister".
- Please, Don't Leave Me: The general theme of "Not Ready".
- Title Track: "The Ending Stays The Same".
